Well, I drafted Ichiro in the middle rounds of my draft (it was around pick 200 - its a 20 team league) and had hopes that he would stay healthy and have a good year for the Yankees. I realize that he's 39 and not the same player that he was 5 or 6 years ago but thought he would still be a quality outfielder that could contribute in a few categories. Fast forward to today and we see Ichiro hitting under .200 and losing playing time to Brennan Boesch and Vernon Wells. I know its early but are any of you guys worried? Do you think that it is just a bump in the road?

The playing time aspect is what I am most worried about. I would have never believed that Brennan Boesch or Vernon Wells would have had a significant impact on Ichiro's playing time. Yes, this is the same Brennan Boesch that was released by Detroit after delivering a .659 OPS and failing to establish himself after multiple chances as an everyday player. So, the Yankees pick him up and start him against lefties bench Ichiro. Nevermind the fact that Ichiro is a career .330 hitter against lefties and that Boesch is a career .288 hitter (still with a sub .800 OPS) against lefties and only hit .230 against them last year. I can only imagine what this situation is going to look like when Granderson gets back. That will leave them with Granderson, Gardner, Ichiro, Wells and Boesch and I imagine the Yankees will be determined to find at least some at bats for all of them. I figure I can only hope that Hafner gets injured sooner rather than later, opening up the DH spot for an outfielder. What do you guys think? How do you guys see this shaking out?

mm92280 wrote: Yes, this is the same Brennan Boesch that was released by Detroit after delivering a .659 OPS...

You do realize Ichiro has been a sub .700OPS guy the last 2 years?

With that said, i did expect him to hit close to .300 for another year and turn in a decent season overall...not looking that way though. I'm sure you'll get more details from all the Yankee fans here though.

mm92280 wrote: Yes, this is the same Brennan Boesch that was released by Detroit after delivering a .659 OPS...

You do realize Ichiro has been a sub .700OPS guy the last 2 years?

With that said, i did expect him to hit close to .300 for another year and turn in a decent season overall...not looking that way though. I'm sure you'll get more details from all the Yankee fans here though.

Yes, I know Ichiro has been under .700 OPS for awhile now. While that hurts from a fantasy standpoint, Ichiro brings a different style of game to the table than Boesch. Ichiro is a contact hitter who steals bases, plays great defense and scores runs. Boesch doesn't have that same skill set, which means as a corner outfielder he needs to demonstrate average to above average power to be useful and he hasn't done anything close to that (the OPS will attest to that).

Still early on so sample sizes are hard to gauge, but he's got an entirely different plate approach right now. Taking a lot of pitches, not a lot of aggression at the plate. When he is taking the bat off of his shoulder, he's not making as much contact as we're accustomed to seeing.

Age is certainly a factor. Batting 7th instead of the top of the order could be affecting him.

I still think he finishes with a .275, 7 HR, 75 R, 45 RBI, 25 SB line. Like you said not the same guy he was 5/6 years ago. As far as playing time goes, that team is incredibly brittle. He should still reach 600 PA.

Probably not. Although I would be a little miffed if I were him, as a future Hall of Famer who seems to still have some ability shouldn't be losing playing time to castoffs like Boesch and Wells (yes, I realize you were being humorous with your post).

I cut him today... never expected to have to do that- he has been a favorite player of mine for years, because he is so darn reliable. But it is hard to look at the numbers from last year, and then look at what he is doing so far this season, and feel confident that things will improve greatly. If he had Jeter, ARod, Granderson and Tex helping bolster that lineup, maybe it is a different story.

I cut him because he was far and away contributing the least value from my OF spots, and I needed greater flexibility in my lineup. I hope I don't end up regretting it.

kaiser wrote:If he had Jeter, ARod, Granderson and Tex helping bolster that lineup, maybe it is a different story.

I feel like this is the crux of the issue. At the end of last season, going from the lowly Mariners to a competitive Yankees team seem to have revitalized him. Now he's on a possibly worse team than the Red Sox due to the injuries. I'm not sure how much motivation he has now apart from the pride of being a last-standing MLB veteran trying to keep things going. It's too bad.

kaiser wrote:If he had Jeter, ARod, Granderson and Tex helping bolster that lineup, maybe it is a different story.

I feel like this is the crux of the issue. At the end of last season, going from the lowly Mariners to a competitive Yankees team seem to have revitalized him. Now he's on a possibly worse team than the Red Sox due to the injuries. I'm not sure how much motivation he has now apart from the pride of being a last-standing MLB veteran trying to keep things going. It's too bad.

The 1st place 11-4 Red Sox? The Yankees just won 7 of their last 8 and are in 2nd place despite their injuries. I really don't think motivation is Ichiro's problem. I just don't think he's very good anymore. That said, we're 3 weeks in...he's not going to hit .190 all year.